Hercules and the Gorgon
by Grumpydrawer
Summary: So as anyone who has seen the episode "Hercules and the Gorgon" will know that Hercules goes out with Medusa at the end of the episode, this is merely my little take on what the date could have been like.
1. The First Date

**So I have doubts many people will read this since it's based on an episode of a Disney cartoon from the late nintes but who cares. I just typed this little thing up over the past few days after watching Hercules and the Gorgon, an episode of Disney's fantastic Hercules cartoon. **

**A brief note on me posting this in the movie category for Hercules instead of the cartoon. The cartoon has five stories, while in this section I found quite a few relating to this cartoon. So it's just me making it easier for people to find. **

**Anyway on with the story!**

**Edit: So I've decided to make this more than a One-Shot. Keep tuned for more!**

* * *

Medusa couldn't be happier. She had finally found someone who liked her and was able to get pass the fact that she was a hideous monster. The young gorgon was definitely going to offer an offering to Aphrodite tomorrow. After all it was thanks to the Goddess giving her the sunglasses Hephaestus had originally made for her that this was happening in the first place, sure they weren't exactly stylish but at least they let her look at other mortals without turning them to stone.

"So where are we going then Hercules?" asked Medusa as she walked alongside the hero in training, hand in hand.

"Oh yeah umm well you see I was going to take you to somewhere in Athens." said Hercules nervously as he ran his hand through his hair. The gorgon couldn't help but laugh at him, he was cute when was nervous. "But well it didn't seem like such a good idea considering the whole Gorgon hysteria going on there currently."

"So where are you taking me then?" asked Medusa quickly, trying to brush away the images which conjoined up in her head at the mention of the gorgon hysteria.

"To a spot a bit outside of Athens, you'll like it." said Hercules as he smiled back at her. The couple then continued to talk about various miscellaneous subjects until they reached the spot. After rounding a bend and entering a secluded grove Medusa couldn't help but gasp when she saw the sight before her. The lake stretched out before them in tranquillity, reflecting the shining moon which hung in the sky above it. Around the lake was a slightly overgrown path and several statues of various Greek heros, some of which had broken with age in places.

"Woah." said Medusa, a bit surprised that Hercules had taken her here. But it was the nice kind of surprise.

"Nice isn't it. I go here sometimes when I want to get away from it all." explained Hercules as he led her over to an empty statue base, the crumbled remains of the statue lying next to it. They sat together on the base in silence for a few minutes, each of them admiring the beauty of the secluded lake, before the young hero in training spoke again. "I don't think many people know of this place, I've never seen anyone else here. Amazing that somewhere so peaceful lies this nearby Athens. I mean you can see it from here yet this place feels like people haven't been here in ages."

"Yeah ummm thanks for taking me here." said the young gorgon somewhat nervously as she fiddled with her hands.

"You're welcome Medusa. It's the least I can do after how I treated you." replied Hercules apologetically. He then ran his hand through his hair awkwardly. "Sorry about that again."

"Don't worry about it." replied Medusa as her snakes hissed in agreement. The gorgon then tensed briefly as she felt Hercules put his arm round her waist before relaxing again. Content to watch the moon reflect itself on the lake with the one person she could call a friend.

* * *

Hercules felt Medusa tense briefly as he cautiously put his arm round her waist, thankfully she relaxed again shortly after. He genuinely liked Medusa, sure she turned out to a gorgon but she'd done nothing but be nice to him and his friends and she was quite beautiful in her own way. Icarus was right there's was not a lot of eye contact but Medusa did indeed have a winning personality.

"So what's it like being the son of one of the gods?" asked Medusa curiously after a bird chirped in the distance.

"Urmmm well it's not that different from being a normal human minus the whole being easily able to get the aid of one of the gods. Well the aid of any god but Hades. " answered Hercules, taken off guard by the question. "Although I do feel a bit pressured at times, being the son of the top god comes with high expectations."

"Must be nice when gods have your back." muttered Medusa quietly as she looked out over the lake.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Hercules, confused by the comment.

"Oh nothing." said Medusa quickly as she looked back up at him. Hercules swore that the snakes she had for hair had a sad expression on their faces.

"So ummm what's it like to be a gorgon?" asked Hercules, trying to steer the conversation away from something the gorgon in question did not want to talk about.

"Lonely." answered Medusa sadly as she looked out once more over the lake, each of the snakes she had for hair glaring at him.

"Oh well ummm." said Hercules trying to recover the situation. Stupid stupid stupid. Medusa made a deal with Hades, Hades of all gods, just so she could not be a gorgon for half the day. Of course she didn't want to talk about being one. How could he be so stupid to ask that? "So do you want to hang out with me, Icarus and Cassandra after school tomorrow?" asked Hercules quickly. Medusa laughed at how quickly he had said it, the hero in training blushed lightly in a mixture of embarrassment and something else.

"Sure I do. You guys are the only friends I have." said Medusa as she smiled at him, her fangs slightly protruding from her mouth. "But they don't ummm you know. Know that I'm a gorgon." said Medusa with slight worry in her voice.

"Don't worry about it." said Hercules as he lightly pulled Medusa ever so slightly closer to him. "Icarus already knows, he's the one who persuaded me to go after you. And Cassandra won't care, she doesn't care what her friends look like."

"Thanks Hercules." said Medusa, a small timid smile on her face. The hero in training and gorgon then continued to watch the lake, enjoying both the tranquillity and each other's company.

* * *

Hercules was overjoyed as he walked Medusa back to the grove she inhabited. Finally he'd had a date which didn't results in a monster attack or getting dumped. Sure he had gone on a successful date with a female gorgon instead of a human female but it was progress…..plus it wasn't half as bad as some things his farther had done.

"Something wrong?" asked Medusa as the young hero in training shivered at the thought of his family's love life.

"Oh it's nothing." said Hercules as he squeezed the gorgon's green hand lightly before they continued walking again. Then after a few minutes more of walking they reached Medusa's grove, upon reaching it she turned to face Hercules, a small timid smile of her face.

"T..thanks Hercules. That was fun." said the gorgon as her snake hair's heads nodded in agreement.

"You're welcome Medusa." said Hercules, holding the gorgon's gaze for a few seconds before speaking again. "Well I guess it's time for me to go then, Phil's going to freak if I take any longer to get back." said the hero in training as he ran his hand through his hair awkwardly.

"Well let me bid you goodbye then." said Medusa as she leant towards him, her lips making contact with his cheek shortly after. Hercules could feel himself turning scarlet at the sudden kiss. The gorgon then pulled back after about a second with a small smirk on her lips, giving him a wave before she headed off into her grove. Hercules just stood there, his face a bright red and his hand on his cheek where Medusa had kissed him.

She'd kissed him. Medusa had actually kissed him!

He was definitely leaving Aphrodite and Cupid a big offering tomorrow.

* * *

_So the line "Must be nice when gods have your back." by Medusa is a reference to her origin in Greek Mythology, aka Athena being a bitch. Also I presume most people will get why Hercules shivers when thinking of his family's love life. If not merely look up the Greek Gods family tree, it's one great big incestrial family. _

**So I may make this more than a One-Shot if I come up with anymore ideas for this little pairing, I could probably work in Hades trying to break Herc and Medusa up or something like that. **

**Anyway thanks for reading those Disney Hercules fans out there! You guys and girls rock! **

**Reivews are always appreciated aswell (don't feel pressed to leave one though), I would be interested to hear if anyone would be interested in me expanding upon this little One-Shot.  
**


	2. Godly Interference in Sleep

**Thank you everyone who has read this fanfic, I've been quite surprised by the response. I was expecting two maybe three views at the most over the coming week yet it got forty views in the first three days! Colour me surprised. Good to know that there's still Hercules fans out there. **

**Thanks to the Guest and whitetigerwolf for the reviews and whitetigerwolf and Vonbaron for the favorites. **

**Anyway on with chapter two!**

* * *

"Phil I'm home!" called Hercules as he opened the door to Phil's house and subsequently entered it. The young hero in training braced himself for Phil's shouting but it surprisingly never came, the living room (if you could even call it that) was deserted. Hercules then headed upstairs, intent on finding the satyr.

It didn't take long. After about a minute of searching Hercules found his mentor and trainer fast asleep in his hammock, which was puzzling. Phil was always awake when he got home, no matter the time. Yet here he was sleeping in his hammock.

However instead of pondering the matter further the son of Zeus let out a yawn and headed for his bedroom, suddenly overcome by fatigue. As he laid down in his hammock a thought ran briefly through his head, he'd never felt this tired before out of nowhere. Though Hercules had no time to ponder it was he soon fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of a certain feminine gorgon.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Underworld the scene was not so peaceful…

"CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS! I HAD JERKULES TURNED TO STONE! STONE! AND YET HE STILL GOT OUT OF IT!" shouted Hades as he glowed bright red while shooting fire in a variety of directions.

"But your fieriness couldn't you just get Medusa to turn him to stone again?" suggested Pain as he cowered in a corner of the throne room with Panic.

"SHE'S THE ONE WHO TURNED HIM BACK FROM BEING STONE!" shouted Hades as his flames almost scorched the two imps. "THAT LITTLE BRAT TRICKED ME WHEN I HAD FINALLY FINISHED HIM OFF! AND TO TOP IT OFF APHRODITE SHOWED UP AND REJECTED ME, AGAIN!" The two imps closed their eyes braced themselves, preparing to get burnt to piles of ash and eyeballs, but opened them when they realised that the temperature in the room was decreasing.

"Ummm are you alright your blueness?" asked Panic as the two imps watched their boss turn back to his usual laid back blue self.

"Of course I am boys." said Hades as he took a deep breath in and out, in and out.

"Urmmm boss what are you doing?" asked Pain, each imp confused by Hades's behaviour.

"A calming exercise boys. Learnt it from Hypnos at his anger management class a few days ago." said Hades as he stretched his arms above his head. "Helps me cool down."

"Who's Hypnos?" asked Panic.

"What's an anger management class?" asked Pain.

"Oy minions." muttered Hades to himself as he let out a sigh. "Hypnos is the God of Sleep. Thin greyish guy who's a bit of a recluse."

"But I thought Mor…" said Panic before Hades interrupted him.

"Morpheus is the God of Dreams. Hypnos is the God of Sleep. Two different things boys." said Hades as he sat down on his throne. "And anger management class if where you learn how to manage YOUR ANGER!" The imps then cowered again as more flames shot around the room.

"So why are you going then?" asked Panic.

"Yeah doesn't sound like something you would go to." said Pain.

"Right you are boys but here's the thing. Ares, Poseidon and Zeus are going to it as well." said Hades, seemingly pretty pleased with himself. "See why I'm going now?" The two imps then shock their heads prompting the Lord of the Dead to facepalm. "I'm going because I'm likely to get the scoop on what makes them angry. Thus I use that in a scheme against them and bada boom bada bing I have three gods acting without thinking things through and subsequently making bad decisions."

"Oh that makes sense your craftiness." said Pain enthusiastically

"Precisely boys, but before I come up with a snazzy scheme like that I need to get revenge on Jerkules and that gorgon." said Hades as he stroked his chin.

* * *

The next morning…

* * *

"Morning Phil." greeted Hercules as he entered the living room of Phil's home.

"Hey kid." greeted Phil as his trainee sat down across from him at the table. "So where were you last night? I didn't see you come in."

"I was out with a friend." answered Hercules truthfully after he took out bit out of a piece of bread which had been laid out for him.

"Sure it was a 'friend'." said Phil with a smirk, making quotation marks with his hands as he said friend. "Let me guess it was a lady 'friend'."

"Phil!" blurted out Hercules in annoyance.

"Relax kid I'm just messing with ya." said the satyr as he top a sip of his drink.

"Something strange happened last night though when I got in." said Hercules after a few seconds had passed. "I'd just found you asleep when I suddenly became tired, like my energy had just vanished."

"Sounds like what happened to me Herc. I was just clearing up some weapons when I felt like I was going to drop from fatigue." replied Phil. "Probably nothing though."

"Phil I don't think suddenly feeling exhausted when you didn't feel like it before is nothing." said Hercules seriously. "What if it's one of Hades's schemes?"

"If you're that hung up on it kid you could ask Hypnos." said Phil as he finished off his bread.

"Hypnos?" asked Hercules in confusion, having never heard the name before.

"Yeah Hypnos, the God of Sleep. He's a very reclusive guy who keeps a close eye on us mortals." answered Phil before smirking. "Maybe he wanted ya to be rested up for when you see your lady friend again." The son of Zeus merely glared back at the satyr as he continued to eat his bread, this was getting old real quick.

* * *

Meanwhile they day was just beginning in a small village east of Athens and the townspeople were going about their daily life, none of them noticing the figure moving through the shadows of the town's alleyways. If anyone had taken notice of the direction the figure was heading in they would notice that it was heading towards the town's collection of temples. Eventually the figure came to a halt in the shadows by one of the smaller temples and surveyed the nearby area. Then the figured scurried into the temple and slammed the door behind it, breathing and hissing in relief.

"Geez how hard does it have to be for a monster to pay her respects." joked the figure as it stepped into a ray of light coming from one of the temple's windows, revealing Medusa holding a small basket. The young gorgon then headed towards the centre of the temple where a statue of Aphrodite stood, radiating beauty into the cold stone temple.

Medusa kneeled in front of the statue once she reached it and placed the basket in front of the statue which now towered over her.

"Aphrodite, Goddess of Love I offer you this as thanks for the heart-glasses you gave me yesterday." said Medusa awkwardly, trying to remember how offerings were done. "Ummm sorry that it's only berries and some flowers in a basket, it's kinda hard for a gorgon to find anything else to use as an offering." The gorgon held her left arm awkwardly as she apologized before she jolted back in shock, her snakes hissing in surprise as she did so, as the basket glowed pink for a few seconds before disappearing completely.

"So that's it then?" asked Medusa to the empty temple as she stood up. "Well bye then." said the gorgon as she turned and headed out of the temple, thankfully that the square outside of it was empty. Hopefully the journey back to her grove would be just as uneventful.

* * *

"I've got it boys!" declared Hades as he stood up from his throne, having sat there the whole night trying to think up a scheme. Immediately Pain and Panic stood to attention in front of Hades as the Lord of the Underwood rubbed his hands together.

"What is your plan your schemeyness?" asked Pain curiously.

"Hypnos is boys. You see he's a fairly weak god on the whole but he has the power to send almost any being to sleep, even his fellow gods. Once upon a time he put Zeus to sleep during a scheme which of course resulted in a rift between the two. I plan to capitalise on that!" said Hades, seemingly pleased with himself. "He makes either Jerkules or Medusa fall drift off during a lovey-dovey moment a couple times and bada bing bada boom they break up! I'll get two birds with one god!

"But sir what if Hypnos doesn't want to help you?" asked Panic nervously.

"Oh he will help me when I offer him something he wants. You see boys old Hypnos loves mortals, takes way to much interest in their affairs than most gods. Thus I offer him the ability to shape shift into a mortal and bada bing he'll be more than cooperative with my plan." said Hades.

"An excellent plan as always your cleverness." said Panic.

"Preciously. One broken up romance coming up! said Hades as he teleported away in a burst of blue flame.

* * *

Hercules stretched as he walked over to Cassandra who was standing by her locker inside the grounds of Prometheus Academy. A surprised expression crossed the face of the usually passive seer for a brief moment when she saw him.

"Morning Cassandra." said Hercules as he reached her.

"Morning to you." said Cassandra bluntly. "What are you doing here so early? You usually barely make it here in time."

"Oh well I had a really good sleep last night." said Hercules as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I woke up early than usual because of it, nothing that unusual."

"Well I suppose that's a good a reason as any." said the seer.

"So I was wondering if you ummm want to hang out with me, Icarus and Medusa after school today." said Hercules a bit awkwardly, remembering that Cassandra had no knowledge of Medusa being the gorgon.

"So you apologized to her then?" asked Cassandra, surprising the hero in training and almost causing him to fall over in surprise.

"Wha…how'd you." stuttered out Hercules as Cassandra merely looked back at him.

"Icarus told me about it. You finding out she's a gorgon, you being a jerk, you going to apologize." explained Cassandra as she listed what Icarus said off with her fingers.

"Oh, well that saves me the explanation then." said Hercules, both thankful that Icarus told the seer and annoyed that he had told her. A friend being a gorgon wasn't exactly the sort of thing you blabbered about.

"I guess it does." said Cassandra bluntly.

"So you'll hang out with us then?" asked Hercules.

"Yeah sure." said Cassandra impassively, noticing an incoming Icarus.

"CASSANDRA, HONEY!" shouted Icarus as he approached the two teens.

"Maybe I could get her to turn him to stone." muttered Cassandra under her breath.

* * *

"Medusa!" called Hercules as he walked into her grove alongside Icarus and Cassandra.

"MEDUSA!" called Icarus, seconding Hercules's call.

"Arghh did you have to call so loud." said Cassandra in annoyance as she rubbed her eyes after Icarus's call.

"I'm over here guys." said a voice behind them, a voice Hercules immediately recognized.

"Medusa." said Hercules cheerfully when the three teens had turned around, each met with the sight of the female gorgon wearing heart-shape sunglasses.

"Yeah that's my name." joked Medusa as she walked up to the three of them. The gorgon then stood next to Hercules as she smiled sheepishly at Icarus and Cassandra. "So Herc told you told about…well this." said Medusa as she motioned to herself.

"Well he told Icarus about how you're a gorgon….who told Me." said Cassandra passively, ever so slightly unnerved by Medusa's appearance.

"Eh gorgon smorgon." said Icarus enthusiastically as he walked up to Medusa and stared curiously at her snake hair, one of which hissed back at him. "You're still our friend either way!"

"Thanks guys." said Medusa as she smiled back at the inventist's son and the seer. "That means a lot to me."

"So with that out of the way." said Hercules as he put his arm round the gorgon's waist. "How was your day today Medusa?"

"Well I snuck into the nearby town to give an offering to Aphrodite at a temple, other than that it was the usual hanging around this." said Medusa as she looked back at Hercules, each teen staring into the other's eyes. Or at least one of them was. All Hercules could see was heart-shape sunglasses, causing him to remember Icarus's comment about there not being a lot of eye contact. The hero in training's and the gorgon's heads were getting closer to each other when they were interrupted by Cassandra coughing.

"We're still here lovebirds." was all the seer said, causing Hercules and Medusa to pull away from each other with their cheeks glowing red.

"So ummm anything interesting happen with you?" asked Medusa as she held onto her right arm with left hand arm in embarrassment.

"Just the usual school day with the exception of putting up decorations for the festival of Athena." said Hercules, noticing that an angry expression briefly crossed Medusa's usually peaceful face at the mention of Athena. Although he assumed he had just been seeing things, what reason would Medusa have to get angry at the mere mention of Athena's name? "Although when I came home last night it was a bit weird."

"What was weird?" asked Medusa, prompting Hercules to tell his friends about how he had suddenly felt as if his energy had been sapped from him.

"Sounds like the actions of a god to me." said Cassandra once Hercules had finished.

"That's what Phil said. He said it was likely the actions of a god named Hypnos." replied Hercules as Medusa leaned against him, putting her arm through his.

"Go ask him then hero." said Medusa with a giggle, causing Hercules to blush lightly at her comment.

"Fine I'll go ask him then." said Hercules as he briefly shivered as he felt one of Medusa's snakes brush against his neck.

"Yeah go luck with that Herc." said Icarus enthusiastically, prompting Medusa's snakes to glare at him. "Hypnos rarely ever leaves his mountain. Even I know that and my knowledge of him is zilch."

* * *

At the same time Hercules and his friends were speaking…

* * *

A temple placed amidst a meadow was perched on the side of a mountain east of Athens, ruinous steps leading up to its doorless entrance which looked unkempt and unused. Around these steps were wild grasses and flowers in full bloom. Nearby by a river flowed down the mountains towards the sea as a light wind blew throughout the area. It was the very picture of peacefulness.

Singing could be heard throughout the meadow, coming directly from a grey figure standing just outside the doors to the temple. The figure had light grey skin, short white hair and was wearing a black and white toga which almost seemed to spiral if you stared at it too long.

_Hush now mortals, it's time to retire,_

_The day you love so much is about to expire. _

_Apollo and his chariot, about to come to their rest, _

_On Mount Olympus, where the gods do their best. _

_But don't worry mortals as you slumber away, _

_Hypnos shall guide you into a new day. _

_While Morpheus ensures that you have good dreams,_

_I shall ensure that you're safe from evil's schemes. _

_Because I, Hypnos wish you the best, _

_As I wish I could walk among you instead of watching you rest._

"Bravo, bravo!" said Hades as he appeared behind Hypnos in a plume of blue fire. "You should do musicals!"

"Save it Hades. Why have you come here, anger management classes not working out?" asked Hypnos, his voice peaceful and free of worries.

"No, no they're working out peachy." said Hades as he put his arm round the God of Sleep. "I have a proposition for you."

"And I don't accept It." said Hypnos as pushed the Lord of the Dead's arm of his shoulders.

"But you haven't even heard it yet!" protested Hades, trying to keep his cool.

"It will be another one of your rule the cosmos plans, which I have no care for." said Hypnos as he looked out over the meadow. "I have no reason to want to unseat Zeus."

"Ok, ok maybe you don't want to unseat Zeus. I get it, I respect your opinion." said Hades putting his arm round Hypnos's shoulders once more, causing the younger god to scowl. "But that song made you sound like you aren't happy with your current job either. I could of course change that for a small favour."

Hypnos was silent for a few seconds before replying. "Go one."

"So you wish to hang out with the mortals instead of watching them sleep, which your can't do due to your powers not involving shape shifting, that my grey friend can be arranged by me if you do something oh so simple for me." said Hades as he sweet talked the God of Sleep.

"Get to the point Hades." said Hypnos in annoyance.

"Geez you're just like a teenager, so impatient." complained Hades. "So you see all I want you to do is this." The fiery god then paused for effect as he spread his arms wide.

"Break up Hercules and Medusa!"

Hypnos then began to walk away from Hades when the bluish god teleported in front of him.

"An answer would be appreciated." said Hades sarcastically.

"Here's your answer." said Hypnos as he began walking away again. "No."

"WHAT!" said Hades as he teleported in front of the younger god once more. "Was I mistaken or did you say NO!"

"I said no Hades. I won't break up Zeus's son and this Medusa." said Hypnos in annoyance as grey energy crackled around his hands. "Now get off my mountain!" The God of Sleep then shot the energy at Hades who was knocked backwards off of the mountain by the blast, having not expected it from the usually peaceful god.

"A tempting offer though Hades, but I will not two mortals' lives so I can get what I want." said Hypnos to himself as he observed his flowers growing in the meadow. The god was about to head back inside his temple when he heard the sound of a mortal mentioning him, carried by the windows. His attention was immediately grabbed by what he heard.

_"I'll go ask him then." _

_"Yeah go luck with that Herc. Hypnos rarely ever leaves his mountain." _

Herc was surely short for Hercules, a mortal whose adventures had been followed by Hypnos for a while now and was presumably the first speaker. His question was probably about his interference the night before. Could be interesting to speak to the hero in training.

The god then smirked, he'd also show the other mortal that he indeed did leave his mountain at times.

The God of Sleep then glowed grey for a second or two before disappearing into a black and white spiral, returning the meadow once more to peace.

* * *

**So as you can see I've decided to go with the Hades trying to break Herc and Medusa up idea, simple I know but hey the show wasn't exactly rocket science!**

**Your thoughts about the inclusion of Hypnos (and how he acts) would be appreciated. Not really sure of how much of a role he will play but I only learnt of his existence on Sunday and I just had to include him. Although I'm going to alter him ever so slightly, here he will not be the farther of Morpheus and Pahntasos for simplicity's sake. Plus he will also not have wings on the side of his head as he does in some depictions.**

**So I'm still chucking ideas round my head as to what will happen in the next chapter. I like the idea of Hercules and Medusa going on a date while Pain and Panic try and break them up. Main problem about that is where the hell could I have Herc take Medusa on a date to? Athens and other cities are a no go since she's a gorgon leaving only the countryside and ruins...where I had their date take place in the last chapter. ARGHH WHY MUST GREECIANS FEAR GORGONS...other than the obvious reason of course. Hopefully I'll come up with an idea for that part soon.**_  
_


	3. The Festival and the Arrows of Loathe

**So here's chapter 3. It would have been done sooner but life got in the way to put it simply. Anyway I want to thank VonBaron for giving me the idea for the festival part of this chapter, it just gave me a brainwave. Festivals commonly have people dress up as things, so why not have the Greeks dress up as monsters. Bada bing bada boom I got the idea for how Medusa goes into Athens with Hercules. **

**Ah yes to briefly address something. I'm taking liberties with the Greek mythology, which is fair enough considering that the Disney's Hercules show does the same and that every Greek myth has at least three different versions of it (the Hercules myth****s for example).**_** Regardless liberties have been taken, one of which I will address here before I begin. **_

_So Hypnos little temple was artistic licence in the last chapter. You see in the myths he lives in the Underworld, which I changed since in the show Hades is down there in his lonesome. However his temple had several references to his Underworld mythical dwelling. The lack of doors and flowers growing outside it for instances, the river flowing nearby was also a reference to how in the myths the river Lethe (river of forgetfulness) flowed through his cave. Speaking of that river some artistic licence was taken with it in this chapter._**Anyway thanks to akityro, heelkeeper6 and EroSlackerMicha for the favorites and thanks to VonBaron, EroslackerMicha and Sheep (loved the who losing the cloak idea by the way, didn't use it but it is a great idea) for the reviews. **

**End stupidly long authors note. **

* * *

"So I don't leave my mountain Mortal?" asked a voice from behind the four mortals, causing each of them to turn around in surprise. Before them was a male who looked to be about a year older than them with white hair and a gray complexion. He was wearing a black and white toga which appeared to spiral as Hercules looked at it. Medusa let out a gasp when she saw the grey skinned male while Icarus merely got down on his knees and bowed before him.

"Oh please forgive me, please don't smite me!" proclaimed Icarus as he bowed over and over again before the male, causing him to frown as he looked down at Icarus. Hercules was puzzled, why was Icarus afraid this guy would smite him.

"Get up Icarus, you meant no disrespect. Though your apology is accepted." said the grey male before he turned to look at Hercules with his piercing grey eyes. How did this guy know who Icarus was?

"So you have a question for me Hercules?" asked the male as Icarus got back up.

"Wa..wait you're Hypnos?" stuttered Hercules in surprise and realization. This guy didn't look like a god. Sure he gave off an aura of power but he just…..didn't look the part. He looked too young.

"Yes. What were you expecting? An old man? Someone with a sun dial? Someone tired?" answered Hypnos with bemusement.

"Well kinda." said Hercules nervously as he rubbed his hand on his neck nervously.

"Fair enough." said Hypnos impassively. "So what is your question?"

"Ummm well you see last night when I got home I suddenly felt tired, as if my energy had been drained from Me. Same thing happened to Phil, my trainer" explained Hercules, having got over the God of Sleep's sudden appearance. "Phil suggested that I should ask you about it."

"Ah that was me Hercules." answered Hypnos, with a slightly amused expression on his face. "Sleep well?"

"Uh yeah I did but why did you do it?" asked Hercules in confusion.

"I was acting on the half of a friend. Aphrodite came to see me last night and requested that I put Phil to sleep early, so as to spare you his shouting when you returned late." answered Hypnos plainly. "I gathered you were on a date with someone called Medusa."

"That's me." said Medusa as she put her arm round Hercules's, causing the hero to blush lightly at the sudden contact.

"You're a gorgon, hmmm interesting." said Hypnos with interest as he noticed Medusa. "First time I've heard of a hero dating a monster, no offence of course."

"None taken." said Medusa, whom Hercules noticed appeared to be at ease with the God of Sleep. He made a mental note to ask her about that sometime.

"Good." said Hypnos as he smiled at the two of them. "The site of you two together makes me glad of the decision I made just before coming here."

"What decision?" asked Hercules in confusion.

"Your uncle, Hades, came to me and offered me a proposition. I break you and a certain Medusa up and he would give me something I shall not disclose here." answered Hypnos. "Of course I did not accept his offer, unlike him I care for mortals and would not hurt two for my personal gain."

"T…thanks." said Medusa after a few seconds of silence had passed, during which Hercules clenched his fists. How did Hades was up to no good again that quick?

"Yeah thanks." said Hercules, grateful that a god was being straight forward with him for once.

"You're welcome." said Hypnos as he began to glow grey. "And a warning before I go. Hades won't stop at me, I would stay vigilant if I were you two." The God of Sleep then disappeared into a black and white spiral, vanishing before their eyes.

"Well looks like you didn't have to go ask Hypnos." said Cassandra once the god was gone. "He came to you."

"You have the gods on speed dial man!" exclaimed Icarus. "Whatever that means!"

* * *

Two days later…

* * *

"What about the festival makes you angry Ares?" asked Hypnos calmly, awaiting the God of War's answer.

"Everything! The songs! The decorations! The utter eggheadedness of it all!" answered Ares as he clenched his fists in anger.

"Why not ignore the festival." suggested Hypnos.

"I can't ignore it! Athena tells me about it non-stop!" replied Ares in annoyance. "All the while that owl of hers stares at me, I tell you the little guy is plotting something!"

"Ares I doubt the owl, Ibid, is plotting something." said Hypnos, trying to keep his patience. "Surely you could go to Sparta during the Festival of Athena. Why not host a Festival of Ares there?" The red god then smiled before smiling broadly.

"That's a great idea! That'll show those Athena eggheads that Sparta is better than Athens!" declared Ares as he hit the God of Sleep on the back, a friendly gesture in Ares's world. "I'll make sure you're honoured there Hypnos! The god who sparked the whole idea!"

"Thanks." said Hypnos calmly before heading away from Ares, glancing around his temple as he did so. Today was the day when one of his Anger Management classes was taking place. Zeus, Poseidon and Ares had arrived but Hades was a no show.

"Looking for my little brother Hypnos?" asked Zeus from behind the God of Sleep.

"Yes. I'm going to wait five more minutes before we start." said Hypnos as he turned to look at the ruler of the gods. "Just in case he turns up."

"Ever the fair god you are." replied Zeus, annoyingly cheerful as always. There was then an awkward silence between the two gods as Poseidon and Ares began to talk about various war ships.

"So I met your son the other two days ago." said Hypnos in a feeble attempt to break the awkward silence. "Seems like he'll shape up to be a good hero." Zeus immediately broke into a smile at the mention of his mortal son.

"Of course he is, he's my boy Hypnos." replied Zeus ecstatically. "One day he'll re-join us on Mount Olympus. I'm sure of it." The God of Sleep merely nodded in reply.

"His friends were interesting." said Hypnos thoughtfully. "Especially his girlfriend." The God of Sleep then noticed that the other three gods had grown silent, each staring at him. "Did I reveal something you were not aware of?"

"The kid has a girlfriend." said Ares in surprise, before he smiled. "Bout time."

"From what I heard from Triton after his experience on land my nephew has been trying to get one for a while." said Poseidon with a chuckle. "Looks like every fish has its day."

"Of course he got a girlfriend Popo, he's my boy." said Zeus happily. "So what's she like Hypnos?"

"I doubt your son would want me to spoil the surprise." said Hypnos, a small smirk appearing on his face. "Let's just say she's…exotic."

* * *

"And then I hit him with a lightning bolt, right between the eyes." explained Zeus happily, doing the hand motion of throwing a lightning bolt. Hercules smiled, sure it was annoying hearing the story of how his farther defeated a titan for the hundredth time but it was just nice to spend time with him…even though it was just his dad possessing a statue within a temple. "Then Poseidon picked old Oceanus up a chucked him into Tartarus. Ha that showed him to mess with the gods!"

"Right you are babe." agreed Hermes as he hovered next to Zeus.

"Anyway son, how's life been treating you?" asked the ruler of the gods as he looked down at Hercules.

"It's been good." replied Hercules.

"Just good eh?" said Zeus with a smirk. "I could swear Hypnos mentioning that you had a girlfriend when I saw him yesterday."

"H..he said what?" stuttered out Hercules in surprise at the comment as a light blush grew on his cheeks.

"Oh not much, mentioned she was exotic. It was a slip of his tongue really." answered his farther with a chuckle. You have no idea how 'exotic' she is thought Hercules. "Don't be embarrassed son, Aphrodite and Cupid strike everyone at some point."

"You could take her to the Festival of Athena this weekend. Chicks love that stuff." suggested Hermes after he zipped over to hover next to the hero in training.

"Yeah about that." said Hercules as he rubbed the back of his head. "I was going to ask her out to it but…" He then trailed off; he couldn't say that Medusa was a gorgon, thus preventing them from going out anywhere where there was people.

"But what son?" asked Zeus with his booming voice.

"I'm not sure how to approach her about it." said Hercules truthfully.

"Just go up and ask her. Worked for me." replied Zeus. "You're my son Hercules, who could say no to the son of Zeus." Plenty of people could and had thought Hercules.

"Big guy's right Herc. Ladies love us Olympians." said Hermes in agreement.

"I guess you guys are right. I'll ask her tomorrow" said Hercules, keen to have the conversation move on from his love life.

"That's the spirit son." said Zeus enthusiastically, giving him a thumbs up. "Now did I tell you about the time I beat old Hyperion."

"Oh great, the big cats telling this one again." whispered Hermes to Hercules, causing the hero in training to suppress a chuckle. It was nice to know that he wasn't the only one his farther bored to death with his stories.

* * *

"Medusa!" called Hercules as he walked through the grove where the gorgon dwelled. "Medusa!"

"Looking for me hero boy." said a feminine voice from behind the hero in training, accompanied by some hissing.

"Y..yeah I was." replied Hercules as he turned around to come face to face with Medusa, a bit embarrassed by how he had been calling out to her. The gorgon merely giggled at his words as a lit smile lit up her green face. It had been a bit strange at first, dating a green girl with snakes for hair, but he'd used to it. Now the hero in training barely took any notice of the snakes after getting used to them.

"So why'd you come here today Herc? You only come here every other day, and you came yesterday." asked Medusa curiously. "Not that I mind though." the gorgon added timidly, holding her left arm as she did so.

"Well I was wondering if….you know you wanted to come with me to the Festival of Athena tomorrow." answered Hercules, hoping Hermes's advice was good.

"I'd love to hero boy that there's a small problem with that." said Medusa as she pointed to her hair and eyes. "I'm a gorgon, remember."

"I know, I could never forget that." replied Hercules quickly. "But you see tomorrow night everyone at the festival everyone dress up as monsters and things like that. So I was thinking…" The hero in trainer then trailed off, unsure of how to put it in words to Medusa.

"That you could go as a hero and I could go as a gorgon." said Medusa with a smirk. "Clever."

"T..thanks, but that still leaves the issue of causing people to be turned to stone when they see your eyes." replied Hercules, rubbing his neck nervously as he did so. "Sure you could wear the glasses Aphrodite gave you but then you wouldn't look very…..gorgony." That was the one flaw in his plan, other than that it was perfect. It was the only time and way he could think of where he would be able to go on a date with Medusa somewhere other than a forest or ruin.

"I'll figure that out." said Medusa reassuringly as she smiled at the hero in training. "It's a great idea Hercules. We'll finally get to go on a date where there are other people."

"Yeah we will." said Hercules as he pulled the gorgon into an embrace, causing Medusa's cheeks to turn a shade of red. The demigod then leaned towards the gorgon as he kissed her gently on the lips, feeling a brief jab from one of her fangs as she leaned into the kiss. After a few seconds the two teenagers pulled apart and looked each other in the eyes (or at least one of them did). Medusa then smiled shyly as she leaned her head against the hero in training's chest.

"We definitely will." muttered the gorgon happily.

Little did Hercules and Medusa know that they were being watched…

* * *

Two birds, one a dark shade of pink and one a dark turquoise. The two birds looked at each other with an expression which almost looked like a smirk. A puff of smoke then engulfed each bird as they transformed into two imps, Pain and Panic.

"The boss is going to love this." said Panic excitedly.

"Yeah it'll be a perfect time to break them up. Right in the thick of the festival." said Pain, sharing Panic's excitement.

The two imps then high fived each other before teleporting away to the Underworld, eager to share their news with the Lord of the Dead.

* * *

"Your blueness!" called Pain and Panic as they ran into Hades's throne room, tripping over each other and ending up in a pile at the foot of the throne.

"What is it boys." asked Hades in boredom as he looked down distastefully at the two imps.

"We've found the perfect time to break up Hercules and Medusa!" said Pain excitedly from underneath Panic.

"This better be better than your Harpy idea." said Hades, remembering one of his minions' recent failed ideas.

"They're going to be on a date at the Festival of Athena tomorrow night!" added Panic as he got off of Pain.

"Really." said Hades with interest, before he frowned at a thought which had formed in his mind. "Do tell me then boys how A GORGON IS GOING TO ATTEND A FESTIVAL IN ATHENS WITHOUT CAUSING CHAOS!"

"Tomorrow night at the festival everyone dresses up as monsters and stuff like that your fieryness." explained Panic as he cowered next to Pain. "Hercules suggested would dress up as a hero and Medusa would dress up as a gorgon."

"My clever little nephew." muttered Hades as he smirked. "Boys get practising your archery! You're going to need it!"

"Why will we need it?" asked Pain in confusion.

"Because you're going to hit Jerkules and the gorgon with one of these." said Hades as a green arrow appeared in his hand. "A loathe arrow."

* * *

Hercules was having doubts about his plan as he walked down the road leading out of Athens, clad in the armour he wore when training, to meet up with Medusa. Surely someone would notice that she was a gorgon, her hair was a dead giveaway. He'd seen some Athenians dressed as gorgons on his way out of Athens and none of their fake snakes moved, Medusa's on the other hand did because they were alive and presumably could think for themselves judging by what he had seen.

The hero in training was just about to turn down the path which went past Medusa's grove when he heard the gorgon behind him. "Behind you Herc."

"Oh hey Medu…" said Hercules as he turned to face her, immediately looking away once he did so. He'd seen her eyes, eyes which could and had turned people to stone.

"What's wrong?" asked Medusa, taking offence at the hero in training's action.

"Y..your eyes aren't covered." stuttered out Hercules, still surprised he hadn't been turned to stone.

"Actually they are hero boy." said Medusa as she leaned closer to Hercules. He then felt Medusa's hands on either side of his head as she turned him so he could see her. He was staring directly into her eyes, which was when he realised something was wrong. How was he not turning to stone?

"Uh Medusa how." was all Hercules was able to say before the gorgon put a finger to his lips, giggling as she silenced him.

"They aren't my eyes Herc." said Medusa with amusement in her voice. Hercules looked closely at her eyes in confusion before he noticed something. At the edge of each eye a thin piece of metal could be seen going from each eye to her ears. That was then the hero in training realised what the gorgon meant.

"Oh so they're glasses which look like your eyes." said Hercules in realisation.

"And I thought hero's in training had better eye sight." said Medusa with a giggle. "Yeah they're glasses, Hephaestus made them for me."

"He did?" asked Hercules in confusion.

"Yes he did. I beseeched Aphrodite and explained to her the little problem in your plan. She was more than happy to help, it was her idea to get Hephaestus to make the glasses." explained Medusa, clutching her arm as she continued timidly. "She mentioned something about this being your only relationship which lasted more than five days."

"S..she told you that!" exclaimed Hercules, his face turning red in embarrassment.

"Yeah but that's unimportant." said Medusa with a timid smile as she held Hercules's hand. "We have a festival to attend."

The 'unique' couple then headed off towards the city of Athens, unaware of the two imps hiding in a bush nearby. Each of them wielding bows and loathe arrows.

* * *

"Should we shot them now?" asked Pain as he aiming at Hercules. "We have clear shots."

"Nah let's wait till they're in a crowd. It'll make their break up worse that way." answered Panic. "And Hades would prefer it to be as worse for them as possible."

"And when Jerkules is in pain Hades is happy." said Pain.

"Which means fewer fireballs coming our way." said Panic. The two imps then high fived before they smirked and scurried after the couple, intent on not losing sight of them.

* * *

Hercules was nervous as he walked into Athens with Medusa. Sure he had been pretty sure of his plan earlier but now he wasn't so sure about it. Surely someone would notice that Medusa was a gorgon, it wasn't like they were hiding it very well. As they walked into the crowd which had formed throughout one of Athens's main streets the hero in training glanced around nervously, hoping that he wouldn't see anyone he recognized.

"Hey Herc." said Medusa suddenly, startling the hero in training as she held his arm to get his attention.

"Yeah Medusa?" asked Hercules as he turned to face the gorgon, being met with the unfamiliar sight of her snakes not moving. It was strange how he'd gotten used to something like that so quickly.

"Let's go over to that stall over there." said Medusa s she pointed towards a stall selling various bracelets.

"Sure." replied Hercules as he let the gorgon led him towards the stall. The stalls owner looked over and smiled at them as they approached, she was a brown haired girl wearing a blue who looked a little older than them.

"Can I interest you in any of my bracelets?" asked the girl once they had reached the stall.

"Yeah, what do you have?" asked Medusa as she looked over the bracelets, a slight nervous tone in her voice.

"Well each bracelet has things relating to a god." explained the girl as she picked up a red bracelet with various small weapon shaped beads on it, not noticing the nervous tone in Medusa's voice. "This one has things relating to Ares for instance, hence the colour red and the weapons." The girl then picked up another bracelet, this one was mostly pink and had heart and cherub shaped beads on it. "And this one represents Aphrodite, perfect for a cute couple like you two." The girl laughed as Hercules felt himself blushing, noticing Medusa blush slightly aswell as she looked over at some of the bracelets.

"Which god is this bracelet meant to represent?" asked Medusa curiously as she picked up a grey bracelet off a stand.

"Oh that one represents Hypnos, the God of Sleep." answered the girl cheerfully. "The bed shaped beads represents sleep, the flower shaped beads represents the drowsiness causing flowers which grow outside his temple and the jug shaped bead represents the Lethe water of the Pool of Forgetfulness in the Underworld. A pool he created."

"He created the Pool of Forgetfulness." said Hercules in surprise, whom Medusa knew from the stories he had told her that he had had several encounters with the pool.

"Yeah he did, I heard a story that he created it to allow him to erase Hera's memory of the time he put her and the gods to sleep in order to help Prometheus steal fire so that she would let him marry her daughter, Pasithea." explained the stall girl. "I was going to make a bracelet represent Pasithea but I couldn't think of anything to represent her, hallucinations and relaxations don't exactly work out in bead form." So if this Pasithea was a daughter of Hera, that meant she was his sister, thought Hercules when the girl had finished. He'd never even heard of that goddess till tonight, arghh why did his family tree have to be so confusing?

"I'll buy this one then." said Medusa as she look over the bracelet one more.

"Great, it's one drachma." said the girl as she held out her hand. Medusa was just reaching into when Hercules reached over and dropped a drachma into the girl's hand.

"My treat." explained Hercules as Medusa looked at him in confusion.

"Awww how cute. Have a good night out." said the stall girl as she pocketed the drachma and Medusa put on the bracelet. "Good gorgon costume by the way."

"Thanks." said Medusa before Hercules walked away with the gorgon, each of them barely suppressing a chuckle at the stall girl's last words. Hercules felt pretty good about his plan now he had seen it work out right in front of him, he was almost hoping that another Athenian would make a similar comment about Medusa's 'gorgon costume'.

* * *

The streets of Athens were filled to the brim with people dressed in a variety of costumes. Medusa had seen people dressed as minotaurs, centaurs, cyclopses, sea monsters, a couple hydras and several gorgons, Medusa being slightly impressed by the latter's costumes. There were a couple other people dressed as heros or other minor beings but for the most part the majority of Athens was dressed up as monsters.

The gorgon was sitting with Hercules on a bench at the side of one of the streets, fiddling with her new bracelet as the hero in training ate some kind of doughy treat.

"You want some Medusa?" asked Hercules in between bites. "It's really good."

"No thanks Herc." declined Medusa as she fiddled with her hands, giggling slightly at how quickly he was eating the treat.

"Your loss." said Hercules before he finished off the treat. "So where do you want to go next?"

"Let's just look at some more stalls." replied Medusa, yawning after doing so.

"Tired?" asked the hero in training.

"Just a little bit, I'm not used to it being light at this time of night." answered Medusa. It was true, she wasn't used to it. She lost light when Apollo pulled his sun chariot to a stop, plunging her grove into darkness. Not that it mattered much due to gorgon's having enhanced eyesight, one of the few good things about being a gorgon.

"Makes sense, just don't let Hypnos send you to sleep yet." joked Hercules as he stood up from the bench, extending his hand to help Medusa up as he did so, which she accepted. The couple then headed off down the street, joining the throng of people lining Athens's streets.

* * *

An hour or so later

* * *

The gorgon squeezed Hercules's hand as they walked through yet another large congregation of Athenians, she was a bit unnerved about being around so many people. Sure she'd been around lots of people when'd she had originally met Hercules but she was temporarily human at that time, safe and human. Currently she was a gorgon surrounded by people who would panic and head to get their pitchforks if they knew what she truly was.

"You ok?" asked Hercules with slight worry in his voice.

"Y..yeah." answered Medusa as she looked over at the hero in training. It was true, she was ok. So far the night had been pretty fun, all they'd done was browse stalls kiss each other and look at the decorations but it had still been enjoyable, even if it was a festival to honour a god she hated. It made a change from hanging around forests and petrified people.

The only problem was how she kept worrying about what would happen if someone figured out she was a real gorgon. Sure she had the eye-lookalike glasses and her snakes had stayed very still, only occasionally twitching to prevent them from getting cramped, but it was still possible someone would figure it out. Athens was the city of Greece's smartest people after all.

"You sure?" asked Hercules, a caring smile on his face.

"Yes I'm sure." replied Medusa, glancing around at their surroundings as she did so. "B..but it would be nice t..to go somewhere a bit quieter."

"I know just the place." said Hercules as the gorgon felt him put his arm round her, guiding her away from the crowds and down one of the alleyways. It took about a minute of walking but soon the sounds of the festival faded away as they entered an empty plaza. Hercules then guided her over to one of the tables situated in the centre of the plaza where they sat down at, one opposite the other.

"Quiet enough?" asked the son of Zeus, motioning to the empty plaza as he did so.

"Yeah it is." answered Medusa as she felt her snakes begin to move again, each of them pleased by the lack of people. "But why aren't there any people here? I thought this festival was meant to be a big thing."

"It is a big thing, but only the eastern half of the city is used for the festival." explained Hercules. "The western half is almost entirely deserted during the festival."

"Oh." said Medusa as she smiled back at the hero. "It's nice to get away from the crowds."

"Were they bothering you?" asked Hercules quickly, causing the gorgon to giggle at his reaction. It was sweet how much Hercules cared for other people.

"A bit." answered Medusa honestly. "It wasn't anything bad though, just a bit unnerving being around so many humans who couldn't notice that I'm a gorgon at any second."

"But they didn't Medusa. And besides if they did I would have protected you." replied Hercules, blushing a bit as he mentioned protecting her. Medusa could feel herself blushing at the comment as well.

"Thanks Herc, that's cute." said Medusa, smirking slightly at the embarrassed hero in training before her. "It's just that the last time I was in a crowd in a city…" the gorgon then trailed off, trying to suppress the bad memories which were arising due to the slip of her tongue.

"What happened?" asked Hercules with both concern and curiosity in his voice.

"Umm you know Herc I think it's not worth mentioning." said the gorgon quickly as she got up from the table. She was about to walk away when she felt Hercules's hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Medusa what is it?" asked Hercules, concern now only in his voice. "I usually wouldn't pry but I'm worried about you. Does it have to do with Athena?" Medusa felt herself freeze at the mention of that Goddesses name, anger boiling up inside her.

* * *

A few minutes earlier…

* * *

The people of Athens were enjoying the festival, unaware that they were being watched. Hiding in the shadows near a statue of Ibid (Athena's owl companion) was Hypnos, deep in contemplation as he watched the Athenians mill around the street. It was times like this that he was thankful for his parentage, which allowed him to hide in the shadows unseen. If only he could shape shift into a form which looked like a mortal who wasn't grey, curse his skin colour.

Despite observing mortals since Prometheus had created them the God of Sleep was still at odds as to why mortals, or rather humans, interested him so greatly. He had originally put it down to the humans be based on the gods, having a similar shape and the ability to walk upright. However that view changed after he visited Prometheus recently, happy to see him released from his eternal punishment. The titan had suggested that he had become fascinated with humans since they were the majority of creatures that he sent to sleep each night, saying that you grow fond of something the more you look after it. He had since accepted that suggestion, it explained why he choose to appear in a younger humanoid form instead an older one. He was quite fond of young humans, decisions and experiences they had affected their whole life. Plus they did get into quite amusing situations.

His meeting with Prometheus was when he learnt that Hercules still lived. Hypnos rarely kept up with the latest news on Olympus, finding most of it boring and irrelevant to his job. He had originally assumed that another god had done away with Hercules as a baby, thus causing him to not search for weeks on end to find the son of Zeus….despite Zeus's orders. It was a nice surprise to hear the kid was alive, even exciting when he had heard some of the hero in training's adventures. Some of them made him a bit envious, being a god wasn't as exciting as most mortals would assume it to be. Thus Hercules was at the top of his list of interesting mortals and second on the list of amusing mortals, after his mad friend Icarus.

He then drew his gaze away from the crowds of Athenians. He had planned to stop off in Athens briefly on his way to Sparta, for the Festival of Ares in which he was being honoured. However he had lost track of time observing the mortals, which was no doubt going to earn him a shouting at from his wife Pasithea once he arrived in Sparta. Ares wouldn't mind him being late but that wouldn't stop Pasithea from voicing her anger at him being late for her stepbrother's festival.

At least she wouldn't be able to plague him with hallucinations like she did to mortals who angered her.

Then just as the God of Sleep was going to teleport away he heard two voices her immediately recognized, Pain and Panic. The imps of Hades.

"Look they're heading down that alley!"

"Finally we'll be able to get a good shot at them!"

"Which we would have been able to do earlier if you hadn't suggested to wait until they were in a crowd!"

"So there was a bit of a delay, Hades won't care as long as we get the job done."

Hypnos the snapped his fingers as he turned into a grey mist and headed towards where the voices of the imps had come from. He found Pain and Panic climbed up a side of a building as monkeys, each wearing a quiver of arrows and carrying what appeared to be a bow with their tails. The God of Sleep then followed the imps up the wall in his mist form, curious as to what Hades had sent them to do.

Once the tow imps and god reached the top of the building Hypnos turned back into his usual grey godly form. He watched as the two imps transformed back into their usual forms at took aim at something with their bows and arrows. It was then that he noticed what they were aiming at, Hercules and what appeared to be Medusa. Hmmm clever little daughter of Hera, he showed his mother's wit in having Medusa 'dress up' as a gorgon for the festival.

"So what are Hades's little minions doing in Athens?" asked Hypnos, startling the imps and causing them to turn around in surprise.

"Who are you?" asked Pain rudely.

"You should leave here mister." said Panic with hostility. "We're two very important minions."

"You are Pain and Panic, servants of Hades." said Hypnos monotonously as he bent down and ripped the arrows out of the imps hands and the quivers of their backs.

"Hey give them back!" complained the imps as they jumped up and down in a feeble attempt to reclaim the arrows. Hypnos ignored them as he examined the arrows, recognizing them immediately. They were loathe arrows, green versions of Cupid's arrows which had the opposite effect, causing hatred instead of love. Aphrodite had told him about them when he had lasted visited Olympus, something about Hades using them to cause all of the Athenians to hate each other before Hercules fixed the problem with Cupid.

"Clever Hades." muttered the God of Sleep as he looked down at Hercules and Medusa, feeling sorry that the two teens were a target of the Lord of the Dead. "A loathe arrow or two would be perfect to break up Hercules and Medusa. Ingenious indeed, probably would have worked if he had sent someone other than you two imps."

"Hey were Hades's top assistants!" protested Panic.

"Doesn't mean much." replied Hypnos as he snapped the arrows and quivers effortlessly, thankful for his godly strength. He then looked down at the imps in disapproval. "I'm insulted that you didn't know who I am. I am Hypnos, the God of Sleep." Pain and Panic immediately began quivering as soon as he revealed who he was, pleasing the god slightly.

"Well then we'll just be going." said Panic as he began running away with Pain, crashing to the ground as Hypnos snapped his fingers, sending each imp to sleep instantly.

"Pathetic." muttered Hypnos as he looked down at the sleeping forms of Pain and Panic. Hercules and Medusa better be grateful that he spent the time stopping Hades's minions from making them hate, no detest each other. The things he did to help out mortals…

At least he now had a valid excuse for being late to Ares's festival. Pasithea loved her younger step-brother which would hopefully mean that she would expect his excuse for being late. The God of Sleep then disappearing into a spiral as he teleported away from the rooftop, leaving behind only two sleeping imps and two broken quivers.

* * *

The effect of saying Athena's name was instantly noticeable. Medusa went rigid and clenched her fists as her snakes turned and hissed angrily at him. That confirmed Hercules suspicions, something had happened to cause Medusa to get aggravated at the mention of Athena.

"It does have something to do with her, doesn't it." said Hercules as he took his hand off the gorgon's shoulder, having noticed that two of her snakes appeared to be considering biting it. He was worried about Medusa, it was clear that she was keeping secret something which was causing her a lot of stress and he wanted to help the gorgon deal with it. The hero in training then sighed before continuing. "You don't have to tell me what happened Medusa, I respect your privacy. B..but….if you ever want to talk about it you can talk to me about it."

"T..thanks Herc." said Medusa once she had turned around to face him, her composure noticeably calmer. "But you know I think I'll keep this one to myself…for tonight."

"For tonight?" asked the son of Zeus in confusion.

"Yeah tonight Herc. I don't want it spoiling our date." said the gorgon as she fiddled with her bracelet timidly, the light of the moon shining off of its metal beads. "But if you're free tomorrow I'll tell you then."

"Well Phil's planned a big training session tomorrow but I'll be able to make it to your grove after lunch." answered Hercules, he couldn't deny that he was very curious to see what Medusa was hiding. He wanted to know what could possibly cause her so much anger at the simple mention of Athena.

"Yeah, after lunch is good." replied Medusa timidly as she walked up to Hercules and put her arm through his, surprising the hero in training at the sudden unexpected contact of her green skin against his own. "Now let's back to the festival." The gorgon then led the hero in training out of the deserted plaza, each unaware of the godly presence who had been watching over them a few minutes earlier...

* * *

**So there you have it. I have chapter 4 already planned out and I just need to get round to writing it, don't expect it to be up before the Christmas holidays though. It's going to be about Medusa's origin myth, the original origin myth for her. None of that Percy Jackson origin crap. She was raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple (who will not do so in the story because I can't imagine Disney's Poseidon doing that), nowhere in the myth did she go on a date with him in the temple. **

**Amazing the author of those books put incest between main characters in yet shyed away from mentioning mythological rape. **

_So I took Artistic Licence with the whole Lethe water part. Hypnos did not create the river (or pool in this case) of forgetfulness. However if flowed through his domain and I was running out of ideas for the damn bracelet beads so I just made it up._ _Oh yeah he also never used it on Hera either._

**Hypnos wasn't originally going to stop Pain and Panic for shooting the loathe arrows at Hercules and Medusa. Orginally it was going to be Aphrodite but I couldn't get her personality down, then Cupid who I dropped for the same reason as the former. Then Pasithea but I couldn't find any information on her other than that she's one of the Graces, the goddess of hallucinations and relaxation (The later I found in a couple of sources. It makes her seem like she's the god of drugs.) and that's she's Hypnos's wife. So I fell back on Hypnos, whom I added to the story for the purpose of falling back on him.**

**Oh yeah and I cut out the joke about Hypnos having over a thousand kids (a mythological rumour) since I couldn't fit it in well. It makes sense for him to have that many kids though, since his known ones represent a type of dream and there are thousands of dreams.**

**I'm disappointed by the lack of mythological information I could find on Hypnos and Pasithea. I literally found nothing other than that Hypnos put Zeus to sleep twice (that and Hypnos parentage). Once so Hera could torture Hercules and twice so Hera would let him have Pasithea as his wife. If anyone knows any info on the two I'd love to hear it. **


	4. The Gorgon's Traumatic Origin

**Here's the fourth chapter. Sorry for the wait, Christmas and various other things got in the way of writing this. **

**Ah yes thanks to locolyan777 and ecwscorpion209 for the favorites and whitetigerwolf for the review.**

**I also caught up a bit on my Greek Mythology while listening to the Planets (great pieces of music) and learnt two interesting facts about Hercules which ruined my childhood. One: Hercules once impregnated fifty women in one night, impreesive stamia wise (although he is the son of Zeus, and we all know what Zeus got up to). Two: Hercules had between one to three children with Echidna...yep he had sex with the Mother of all Monsters...sorry for any childhoods that may have ruined. **

**On the birght side Hercules married Hebe (the goddess of youth) in the end, much better than Megara in my opinion...although he does kill Megara in one version fo the myth where Hera makes him go mad. **

**Oh yeah I changed the story image to a screenshot I got of Medusa the other day, she looks quite cute in it. Well that an more gorgony than the previous image I got off Google Images. Not that Medusa is an evil monster though, she is like the dragons of European stories. A creature which the 'hero' slays to prove their strength, a usually innocent creature at that. Medusa does nothing wrong, she's just minding her own buisness when Theseus (or whoever the douchebag was) goes off and kills her because some guy tells him to.  
**

**Anyway a minor warning: rape is mentioned in this chapter. It isn't mentioned in much detail but I thought I'd put a warning just in case anyone reading these fanfic has been raped or known someone who has been raped. I don't want to bring up traumatic memories for anyone. **

* * *

The sun was just beginning to shine into Medusa's cave as she awoke, her snakes letting out tiny yawns as they to awoke with their mistress. The gorgon yawned as she sat up in her bed, one of the few pieces of furniture in the cave, with a tired smile on her face, rubbing her eyes as she did so. Her mind was full of images from the night before with Hercules in Athens. That had probably been the best day she'd had since she first met the hero in training, not that she had many days which could compare to those two.

She then heard her snakes hissing and moving in the direction of the stream which flowed through her dwelling.

"Guess it's time to get up." said Medusa, her snakes hissing in agreement as she got out of her bed and headed over to the stream. The gorgon sighed as she stepped into the stream, which went up to her waist. She was so thankfully that this stream had been put here, without it she would have to go outside to wash in the river near the waterfall in plain view of any creature or human who came along. Which would just be plain awkward.

"Today is the day I'll be telling Hercules about how I became a gorgon." said Medusa to her snakes as she ran her soap covered hands down her slender naked form in an attempt at washing herself. Her snakes then began to hiss at her, flailing around a bit and causing the gorgon to chuckle. "I haven't forgotten about you guys." said the gorgon as she ran her soap hands through her snakes coils, smiling as she heard them let out a pleasurable hiss as she washed them. She couldn't help but giggle slightly at their reaction.

At first it had been weird having snakes for hair, even scary at times. Going from non-living brown hair to living breathing green snakes for hair wasn't something you got used to in a day, but she had soon grown fond of her snakes. They had comforted her, at least as far as snakes could, when she had been turned into a gorgon. They gave her someone to talk to who wasn't a rock, although the conversations were still quite dull. They let her make her 'hair' look however she wanted it to, no more 'bad' hair days for her. She always referred to them as her snakes because they were a part of her…yet at the same time they weren't part of her. They thought and did whatever they wanted and always obeyed what she said, yet she had no real control over them. They lived in symbiosis with her, each of them helping the other.

Once Medusa had finished washing herself she stepped out of the stream and grabbed a towel which was lying on a nearby rock. As the gorgon dried herself she thought over what she was going to do today, she was going to tell Hercules that she hadn't always been a gorgon and how she came to be one. She was quite nervous, after all she'd gathered that Hercules was quite friendly with Athena from the stories he had told her. What if he didn't believe her?

The gorgon pushed her doubts aside as she looked over the dresses which were laid on another rock. Most of them were purple or dark black however one stood out from the rest, it was a blue version of her usual dress. It was what she had worn the day she was turned into a gorgon, back when she was still a priestess. That seemed like so long ago, centuries ago. Yet it had only been about four years since that horrible day. She was contemplating wearing that dress, it would be appropriate considering where she was going to bring Hercules to…

"Do you guys think I should wear my blue dress?" asked Medusa as she looked up at her snakes as they stared at the dresses. After a few seconds they looked down at her, nodding in a motion of yes. The gorgon then walked over to the dress and picked it up, holding it against her body.

"Y..you guy s..sure." stuttered Medusa, unsure and nervous about wearing the dress after so long. Her snakes hissed encouragingly at her prompting her to put on the dress, feeling it hug her body closely due to her having grown since she last wore it. Not that it mattered much, the only noticeable difference was that it no long dragged around her legs, instead showing off the lower half of them. She then walked over to the cracked mirror which sat on another nearby rock and examined how she looked in the dress. It didn't look that bad but the colour clashed with her green skin, red eyes and purple eyelids.

"Not that it matters." muttered Medusa as she turned to head out of her cave to get some food, stopping as she noticed a grey glint in the corner of her eye. When she turned back to look at it she discovered it was the bracelet Hercules had bought her the night before and her eye-lookalike glasses Hephaestus had made for her. The gorgon couldn't help but smile once more at the memory. It was nice having a friend after so long…a boyfriend at that.

Medusa then quickly put on the bracelet and glasses before heading out of her cave and into the sunlight, intent on finding some berries or some other fruit to eat before Hercules came to visit.

* * *

Four hours later…

* * *

After finishing his training Hercules had quickly departed on Pegasus, only briefly mentioning to Phil that he was going to see a friend. He was getting sick of the satyr's comments about his 'lady friend'. Sure it was only friendly teasing but that didn't mean it wasn't going to get on his nerves.

The hero in training then look down at the ground far beneath him, scanning it for Medusa's grove. It took him a few seconds but then he located the grove, the dark colouring of it's trees stuck out like a sore thumb admits the lush landscape below.

"Land over there Pegasus." commanded Hercules as he pointed towards the ground. "At the edge of the dark forest." The flying horse neighed in confirmation before it dived towards the ground, arriving at the edge of the grove shortly after. After dismounting Pegasus the hero in training rubbed it's nose affectionately and thanked it before heading towards the forest, stopping when he heard the winged horse whine.

"What's wrong Pegasus?" asked Hercules as he turned to look at the horse who was motioning towards the forest. It took him a few seconds of thinking but eventually the son of Zeus figured out what Pegasus meant. "Oh you want to see her."

Pegasus neighed in reply.

"Well that's a little hard to do Pegasus." said Hercules as he rubbed the back of his neck, thinking up an answer. "You see she's quite shy, she's not quite ready to meet you." The horse neighed in understanding before flapping it's wings and heading back up into the sky. The hero in training then headed into the gorgon's grove, thankful that his horse had settled for an explanation as simple as that. It wasn't that he was worried about telling Pegasus or even Phil, sure they would be a bit unnerved by Medusa but they would get used to her. The winged horse and satyr trusted his judgement…most of the time. No he was worried about telling someone else, someone far more powerful and judgemental than them.

His farther, Zeus.

Hercules could envision the horror and anger on his father's face, lightning scorching the ground as he grew angrier. There's was no way in a million years his farther was going to be ok with him dating a gorgon. Hercules sighed as he brushed a plant aside as he headed through the grove. He was just going to have to keep Medusa's identity a secret, for both their sakes.

* * *

After about a minute of walking Hercules found Medusa sitting on a log in the middle of a clearing in the forest, sunlight shining down on her green body. He was about to approach her when he noticed that she was wearing a blue dress, momentarily startling him by the sudden change. The hero in training had only ever seen the gorgon in either dark purple or black clothing, a stark difference from the blue shade she was now wearing. When combined with the sunlight shining down on her it made her look other worldly, almost angelic if it wasn't for her snake hair.

"Hey Medusa." said Hercules as he stepped into the clearing causing the gorgon to jump briefly and her snakes to immediately turn to look at him.

"Hey Herc." said Medusa as she got up and walked over to meet him, her snakes losing interest in him as she did so. "Ready to go?" asked the gorgon as she cocked her head slightly to the side with a questioning expression while her snakes mimicked the gesture, causing Hercules to blush lightly at the site. She looked surprisingly cute like that.

"Yeah but where are we going?" asked Hercules in confusion. "I thought you were going to tell me what was troubling you yesterday."

"I am Hercules it's just…I want to tell you somewhere more appropriate." said Medusa as she clutched her left arm with her right hand and looked at the ground nervously.

"Oh. Well lead the way then." said Hercules as he took her hand in his, smiling reassuringly at the gorgon. Medusa smiled back at him before she began leading him through her grove, moving between trees, bushes and statues as they did so.

* * *

After about forty minutes of walking in silence the hero in training and gorgon reached a small ruined village situated in a small canyon. The village had definitely seen better days, as evident by the vines and plants which had overtaken it. It appeared to Hercules that they were going to walk into the village when he felt Medusa come to a halt and let go of his hand, shivering as she did so.

"You ok Medusa?" asked Hercules with concern in his voice. Medusa had never stopped so suddenly like that before, even when they had bene in the crowds of Athens.

"Y..yeah." said Medusa as she quickly put her hand to her forehead. "J..just a sudden headache, t..that's all."

Hercules could tell she was lying but he decided to play along, he didn't want to stress Medusa out more. He then put his arm through hers in an attempt to reassure the gorgon, who smiled back at him meekly.

"You're not buying it are you." stated Medusa as her snakes twitched around.

"I'm definitely not buying it." said Hercules jokingly, before his expression turned back to one of concern. "What's wrong Medusa?"

"N..nothing." said Medusa as she slipped out of his arm and began heading towards the side of the village. Hercules hurried after her, still surprised by how the gorgon was acting. What had happened in that village which could cause her so much worry and anxiety?

* * *

After about ten minutes of skirting round the side of the village the hero in training and gorgon reached the side of fairly sizeable temple, stopping outside one of its side entrances. Neither of the teens had spoken throughout the walk so Hercules had taken it upon himself to look at the village. It appeared to have been quite prosperous before it was abandoned, the craftsmen ship of the buildings was very high and he had seen some very expensive pottery through the crumbling walls of several houses. The village also appeared to be from a pretty recent time despite how overgrown it was. Hercules was then snapped out of his thoughts by Medusa's snakes burying their heads in their coils, expressions of fear on their faces.

"So here we are." muttered Medusa as she turned to face him. "Where it all happened."

"What happened here Medusa?" asked Hercules, confused by both her words and the actions of her snakes.

"It's w..where." stuttered Medusa as she looked down awkwardly at the ground before looking back up at him again. "Herc I..I wasn't always like this." stuttered Medusa as she motioned to her hair and face. "I wasn't always a…a gorgon."

It took a few seconds for Medusa's words to sink in but when they did Hercules looked at the gorgon in a mixture of shock, surprise and confusion, during which she clutched her arm and looked at the ground again.

"You mean you were…human?" asked Hercules, still shocked by what he had heard from the gorgon's mouth. Medusa merely nodded her head slightly and she continued to stare at the ground, as a thought then struck the hero in training. "You lived in this village then? That's why you took me here." The gorgon merely nodded her head again before looking up at him, a saddened expression on her face.

"This place was my home Hercules when I was human. I used to look like I did when Hades turned me into a human by day. That's why I wore this blue dress, it's what I wore when I was a human, when I was a pr..priestess." said Medusa sadly as she looked away from him again, seemingly ashamed.

"You were a priestess." said Hercules in shock at what he had learned. He then thought through what Medusa said as the gorgon shuffled her feet awkwardly. There were only two gods who associated themselves with the same colour blue as Medusa's dress, Poseidon and Athena (I'm ditching Hermes because his blue is light than the other god's), and considering the gorgon's hatred for Athena that meant that it was mostly likely a temple of Athena. Something must have happened between Athena and Medusa to cause the gorgon to harbour such animosity towards the god of wisdom. "So this is a temple of Athena then." said Hercules in realization.

"Yes it is one of her temples. I was a priestess of Athena." said Medusa, practically spitting Athena's name as she said it. The gorgon the turned and hurried towards the side steps into the temple before freezing after she grabbed the handrail. Hercules then walked up and put his arm round Medusa's waist caringly.

"We don't have to go inside Medusa." said Hercules in concern. "I'm ok with not going in if it brings back a bad experience with Athena." The gorgon merely turned to look at his face, a solemn expression on her green face.

"Thanks Hero boy, but my bad experience wasn't just with Athena." hissed Medusa with slight hostility. Her voice then softened as she continued "And it wasn't b..bad exper..ience….i…it wa..was a..a n..nightmarish o..one." Medusa then clinged to his arm as she bursted into tears, fear and terror on her face as she sobbed, her snakes uncoiling and trying to comfort her as best as a snake stuck to someone's head could. Hercules then pulled the gorgon into a hug as she cried, surprised and concerned by the sudden change of emotion.

Hercules continued to hug Medusa in an attempt at comforting her as she cried for what seemed to him like hours, but was really only a couple minutes. When the gorgon had finished sobbing she looked up at Hercules, her snakes hissing reassuringly as he saw the tear marks on her cheeks.

"T..thanks Hercules." said Medusa quietly before pulling away from him and heading up one step.

"Medusa we don't have to go in there." said Hercules calmly, but with some concern still in his voice. "I don't want to hurt you by learning what happened in there."

"I know you don't want to hurt me Herc." said Medusa calmly as she stepped up another two steps. "I want to tell you what happened to me. How I became a gorgon." Her snakes then looked back at him and motioned for him to follow her. "I need…I need to confront my past Hercules."

The hero in training then hurried up the stairs and put his arm through the gorgon's, momentarily surprising her at the sudden unexpected contact.

"Then I'll confront it with you."

* * *

The first thing Hercules noticed upon entering the temple was the statues, lit up by the sunlight pouring through a hole in the ceiling. There were five of them crowded around the sides of a derelict statue of Athena. They were all statues of girls who looked to be between twelve and fifteen, each of them bent over as if they were looking at something on the ground behind the statue.

He then felt Medusa clutch his hand tightly, her nails digging in to his skin.

"You ok?" asked Hercules, feeling stupid after he said it. Of course Medusa wasn't ok! Why else would she burst into tears before entering this temple?

"No I'm not ok." said Medusa as she gazed over at the statues. "You see those statues Herc."

"Yeah I see them." replied Hercules, realizing where the conversation was going.

"They were fellow priestesses, my fr..friends. They were comforting me when I w..was t..urned into a gorgon." said Medusa as she began to shiver and cry once more. "I..I did that to them. I t..turned them t..to stone."

"It's not your fault Medusa." said Hercules as he turned the gorgon to face him and attempt to wipe away her tears. "You weren't the one to make you a gorgon. You didn't intentionally turn them to stone."

"But I.I did turn them to s..stone. Even it wasn't intentional i..it's still my ." stuttered Medusa as her snakes looked over at the statues, hissing and wriggling as they did so. "If I hadn't…"

"It's not your fault Medusa. It's the fault of whoever turned you into a gorgon!" said Hercules, growing angry at whoever made Medusa a gorgon. Who could do such a thing to someone so kind, generous and beautiful?

It was then that he noticed that Medusa had ceased crying and turned away from him, staring at the statue of Athena glumly. A few minutes passed in silence, even the gorgon's snakes stayed silent. "Who transformed you into a gorgon Medusa?" asked Hercules, his voice breaking the ominous silence within the temple. The gorgon then turned to face him as she clutched her left arm with her right nervously.

"Athena." answered Medusa, looking away from him quickly after she spoke.

Hercules was shocked by the gorgon's answer. How could Athena do such a cruel and horrible thing to Medusa? How could she be so unjust to one of her own priestesses? She was the goddess of wisdom, a just sophisticated goddess who had treated him fairly throughout his life. If it was Ares or his farther it would have been more believable but not Athena. Athena would never do something like that…...or would she? Athena was also impulsive, easily angered and irritable. Turning a human, even one of your own priestesses into a gorgon sounded like something the goddess of wisdom would do in a moment of anger. Plus Medusa would never lie about something like that.

But what could have angered Athena enough that it caused her to transform Medusa into a gorgon?

* * *

"Athena." answered Medusa before she quickly looked away from Hercules, expecting anger and disbelief. However after a few seconds she looked back up at the hero in training to see a puzzled expression on his face, no disbelief in sight.

"She..she really did that?" asked Hercules with a hint surprise in his voice. Medusa merely nodded her head in reply, not expecting him to believe her. Who would believe her? Athena was loved by most mortals, especially the ones who lived in Athens and the surrounding area. No one would believe that Athena had done this to her, it was a beloved goddess's word against a monster's. As such the gorgon was shocked by the next few words which came out of the hero in training's mouth.

"Medusa why did Athena transform you into a gorgon?" asked Hercules calmly, shocking the gorgon. Did he really believe her?

"Y..you mean you believe me?" asked Medusa, unable to hide the surprise in her voice.

"Of course I do." answered Hercules in confusion. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because I'm a monster maybe." replied Medusa as she put her hands on her hips. "Just in case you forgot."

"Of course I believe you Medusa. You're my friend, g..girlfriend actually." said Hercules as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Besides I've met Athena more times than most mortals have, and it sounds like something she would do." Medusa, without really thinking it through, rushed forward and hugged Hercules, who returned her hug after a second of surprise. She was overjoyed, he actually believed her! He took her words over his friendship with a goddess! The goddess who's city he lived in no less!

"T..thank you for believing me Herc." said Medusa as she pulled out of the hug after what must have been a minute or two.

"Y..you're welcome Medusa." replied Hercules somewhat nervously, a small smile on his face. "S..so umm why'd Athena…you know turn you into a gorgon?"

Medusa took a breath in and out before she began her traumatic story, bracing herself for reliving the memories of that day four years ago.

"Four years ago I was working her as a priestess. You know maintaining the temple and its shrine, helping with festivals and pilgrims. That sort of stuff." said Medusa as Hercules nodded his head in confirmation. "Then one day this guy comes in, wanting to see the shrine. Since I'm the only one here at the time I take him to it and he..he…he pulled b..behind t..the shrine and…" stuttered out Medusa before she burst into tears and fell towards the floor, feeling Hercules strong arms catch her as she fell. The memories flooded back to her as she remembered what had happened once more. Pain, screaming, crying for him to stop, theft of her innocence…..rape.

But this remembrance was different, usually she would be sitting on the floor as she cried her eyes out in fear. This time though she felt safe, scared yet safe in Hercules's arms. She felt like she wasn't being judged for what happened, that someone thought that it wasn't her fault that she'd been raped.

After what must been several minutes Medusa looked up at Hercules, being met with a caring face with an expression of concern and pity.

"It's ok now Medusa." said Hercules, his voice full of reassurance. "He isn't here now. You're safe."

"H….he r..raped me Hercules." stuttered Medusa as she lent her head against the hero in training's chest.

"I know Medusa." said Hercules quietly as he embraced her. "I also know that it wasn't your fault. The only beings at blame here is him and Athena."

"Y..you're the first person to ever say that Herc." said Medusa quietly, happy that someone had finally thought it wasn't her fault. "Athena s..said it was my f..fault, t..that's why she made me a gorgon. She w..was angered by, in her words, the most pr..primitive of acts taking place in her temple. I..I d..don't k..know if she knew he r..raped me."

"She obviously didn't care that he did rape you. Athena was being impulsive and evil." said Hercules angrily, causing Medusa to look up at him in surprise. Hercules, the son of Zeus turned mortal, had just accused Athena of doing something evil.

"Th..thank you Hercules." said Medusa quietly as she smiled timidly at the hero in training. "Thanks for not blaming me for turning my friends to stone, for believing me and for..for not blaming me for b..being r..r..raped."

"You're welcome Medusa." replied Hercules as he smiled back at her. She then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek very briefly, stifling a giggle at the startled expression on his face. A moment of silence then passed between the two of them, each mortal staring at the other's eyes (figuratively though for Hercules).

"You know you're the first mortal to be on my side when it comes to this." said Medusa as she felt her snakes twists and turn, happy at the turn of events. "Other than Hypnos you're the only one to be on my side."

"Hypnos?" asked Hercules in confusion, before an expression of realization appeared on his face. "That's why you seemed at ease when he appeared before us the other day!"

"A pretty sharp deduction for a hero in training." said Medusa with a light giggle. "He saved me from the townspeople as they tried to kill me. You see they weren't that happy when Athena turned me into a gorgon, you know the whole turning people to stone thing and all. They chased me out of town with fire and pitchforks…which is why I didn't take you directly through the village on the way in."

"I'm guessing there are stone statues in the streets." said Hercules knowingly.

"Yeah there are. I di..didn't m..mean to turn them to stone t..though. Most of them just looked at me as I was running away from the other townspeople." said Medusa guiltily.

"So how'd Hypnos save you?" asked Hercules curiously.

"Just as I was leaving the village the townspeople were catching up to me. It was so scary, I knew most of them. There were shop keepers whom I purchased things from, cleaners, musicians, family members….e..everyone w..was after me." stuttered Medusa, remembering the traumatic experience. "I tripped just as I was about to reach the forest. When I fell I expected to be impaled by a spear or set alight by a torch. But nothing happened other than the sound of metal, people and torches falling the ground. When I looked up they were…"

"All asleep." interupted Hercules, before he rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Sorry."

"It doesn't matter." replied Medusa, finding the hero in training's embarrassment amusing. "So yeah when I got up they were all asleep. Then I remember suddenly feeling drained of all my energy before I passed out. When I awoke I was on a bed in a cave within my grove." The gorgon then smiled slightly at the memory. "Laid out nearby were several purple and black dresses on a rock and a towel and soap near the stream which ran through the cave."

"Hypnos did all that?" asked Hercules in surprise.

"I guess so. What other god is known to make people fall asleep instantly." replied Medusa as her snakes hissed in agreement. "Besides I heard that this village was abandoned due to the townspeople having many sleepless nights after what happened to me."

"Well I'll thank him for that next time I see him." said Hercules before he walked up and put his arm round the gorgon's waist, surprising her as he pulled her in towards him. "Now how about we go somewhere less depressing."

"Like where?" asked Medusa curiously, her surprise at Hercules sudden movements taking her mind off over what had occurred in the temple.

"Well we could go back to Phil's Island, he's currently out at a meet-up with some satyr friends of his." said Hercules. "I could show you my flying horse and…"

"Flying horse? Is that a sexual innuendo hero boy?" interupted Medusa jokingly, causing the son of Zeus's face to turn as red as Ares.

"Wha what! i..it's not a innuendo" stuttered out Hercules in embarrassment as the gorgon giggled at him, her snakes joining in as they hissed at the hero in amusement.

"I know Herc." said Medusa in-between giggles. "I just want to see your response."

"W..well do you want to go there?" asked Hercules, still embarrassment by the gorgon's comment. In response Medusa merely leaned forward and closed the distance between them, her dark purple lips in stark contrast to the hero in training's more natural ones. As she felt Hercules lean into the kiss after a few seconds she quickly pushed her tongue into his mouth before pulling it back out again, enjoying the surprised expression on the demi-god's face before she pulled away from him.

"There's your answer hero boy." said Medusa as she turned to head out of the temple, motioning the Hercules to follow her as she did so.

* * *

Meanwhile up on top of Mount Olympus two gods were looking down through a portal in the clouds at Hercules and the gorgon, each having watched the past hours events with interest. One of the godly beings was Aphrodite, overjoyed at what had just taken place in the abandoned temple. The other was Hypnos, pleased but rather bored with what had taken place on the Earth below them.

"Well that little piece of drama is over then." said Hypnos bluntly as he turned away from the portal and looked at the clouds surrounding the home of the Olympians, a hint of envy in his eyes as he looked at the home of the Olympians.

"It was so perfect." said Aphrodite dreamily. "The hero and the monster falling for each other fully, accepting one another for who they are."

"I get it Aphrodite. No need to make an epic poem out of it." muttered Hypnos in boredom.

"Hey when love triumphs it makes me happy, all right?" said Aphrodite in annoyance as she turned to look over at the God of Sleep.

"You don't see me getting ecstatic when sleep overcomes someone." retorted Hypnos.

"Mmphh that's because you're always so monotone." said Aphrodite as she closed the viewing portal with a click of her fingers. The Goddess of Love's expression then changed to one of deep thought, during which Hypnos turned around to face her.

"What's on your mind?" asked Hypnos dryly.

"They're a perfect pair. The romance has let Medusa deal with her past and Hercules fall head over heels in love…" muttered Aphrodite as she thought.

"But?" asked Hypnos bluntly.

"Zeus would never allow it." said Aphrodite as she looked back up at her fellow god. "Hera probably wouldn't mind since Hercules is happy but Zeus would never accept it, he's too stubborn."

"Let that be Hercules problem. I'm sure daddy's boy would be able to convince his farther somehow." replied Hypnos with disinterest. "Besides the boy has many Olympians who would be on his side in such a disagreement." The God of Sleep then frowned as he noticed that the Goddess of Love was ignoring him.

"I've got it!" said Aphrodite happily, going back to her lovey-dovey state….much to Hypnos's dismay. She then pointed at her fellow god as she continued speaking. "You are going to stop Zeus and anyone else from finding out about their romance until they decided to tell him!"

"I'm not going to do that." said Hypnos in disagreement.

"Oh yes you are." said Aphrodite as she poked the God of Sleep in the chest once per word.

"Why will I then?" asked Hypnos in annoyance at the goddess's pestering.

"Because one, you seem to have a soft spot for that gorgon." said Aphrodite as she held up one finger.

"I was merely doing what was right on that day." countered Hypnos.

"Two, you don't get on well with Athena and this would be a perfect way to attack her, considering how Hercules seems to be feeling no love towards Athena at the moment." said Aphrodite as she held up a second finger.

"I attack Athena by causing her soldiers to fall asleep and allow Spartan spies to enter Athens and it's military." countered Hypnos once more.

"Three you owe me a favour." said Aphrodite as she held up a third finger. "You begged me to help you when you fell in love with Pasithea and I agreed on the condition that if I ever needed help with something love related you would aid me."

"T..that was a thousand years ago." stuttered out Hypnos in a failed attempt at countering the claim. "And I did not beg you for help. I merely asked for it."

"Mmphh, sure you didn't. Must be my imagination that you were down on your knees begging me for my help in wooing Pasithea." said the Aphrodite with amusement as a blush appeared on the normally neutral god's face. "And besides it would be so embarrassing if word got out about how you, the ancient powerful God of Sleep, begged the Goddess of Love for help."

"Fine I'll help you." grumbled Hypnos in defeat and embarrassment.

"I somehow knew you would." said Aphrodite with a smirk.

"I better get back to my temple, no doubt Pasithea will need help with the child." said Hypnos as the blush faded away.

"You two had another child?" asked Aphrodite in disbelief, Hypnos merely nodding in reply. "How do you two have so many?"

"I can't help myself. Pasithea is just so irresistible." said Hypnos a blush returned to his face. "With her slender body, her long black hair, her pale skin, her welcoming lips…"

"Enough information, I get the picture Hypnos." said Aphrodite quickly. "Just remember to keep watch over Hercules and Medusa."

"Don't worry I will. They'll write stories about those two mortals someday….and we both know that I need to get more mentions in stories." said Hypnos before he began to disappearing into a black and white spiral. "Hercules and the Gorgon, has a nice ring to it."

* * *

_An unknown man rapes Medusa instead of Poseidon because I cannot imagined Disney's Poseidon doing such a thing, he's loveable dim-witted Popo in this version of the myths. _

_Hypnos comment about his lack of appearances in stories if a reference to how I've barely found any infomation on him in my research. I only found two myths he appears in, each appearance a very brief one._

**So I hope you've all enjoyed this fanfic, I know I've enjoyed writing it. I'll have to see if there's any other Hercules and Medusa pairing fanfics on this site sometime, I quite like this pairing. And if there aren't any it would be nice if someone wrote some more (hint hint wink wink).  
**

**Regardless thank you to everyone who has either read, favorited, followed or reviwed this fanfic. I'm still suprised by the response this has gotten, I was expect four maybe five views when I published the first chapter, not one hundred. Now it's gotten to around five hundred views and I'm still suprsied by the response. **

**September was the first time I watched the Hercules movie since 2001 or 2002 and I watched a couple episodes of the show after it...I barely remembered anything other than that Hades was awesome with his James Woods voice and that there was an episode of the TV show where he tricked the other gods into swimming in the pool of forgetfullness, well that and Aphrodite song and her appearance in a shell during the Pygmalion episode. I'll never forget that damn song of hers, nor will my mother who sings it whenever someone mentions Aphrodite. Yet I forgot everyone one else, I had zero recollection of Icarus or Cassandra for instance. Which is strange since I was obsessed with that show as a child, which shows considering my obsession with Greek Mythology (it's up their with my Paleontology obsession). Yet if proves that we do forget things, even the things we love. Thus I will now be watching the show at least once every two years from now on. **

**Anyway I thank you all once more for reading (and hopefully enjoying) Hercules and the Gorgon.**


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